Lecture 6: Strategies 2

Question 1

What is a key aspect of phenology?

Answer 1

TIMING, Timing is everything

Question 2

________ variation in environmental conditions necessitates adaptive tuning of life event timing

Answer 2

Seasonal

Question 3

Phenology is…

Answer 3

The study of timing of life cycle events and the influence of seasonal and inter-annual environmental variation of these events

Question 4

A phenological trait is…

Answer 4

Any trait that involves the timing of life cycle events (especially periodical events in its expression)

Question 5

Phenology is often…

Answer 5

Variable between populations and individuals and showing an interaction between genotype and environment

Question 6

Factors affecting phenology…

Answer 6

Abiotic seasonal fluctuations and seasonally variable biotic factors

Question 7

Abiotic seasonal fluctuations…

Answer 7

Temperature, precipitation, light, etc

Question 8

Spring ephemerals…

Answer 8

Perennial plants that emerge in early spring, grow and reproduce quickly, and typically die back to below ground parts shortly thereafter

Question 9

Why should spring ephemerals flower so early?

Answer 9

-They need access to light to provide energy for flowering and developing fruit
-Many pollinators avoid foraging in shady areas
-They are poor competitors for pollination

Question 10

T/F) Most flying insect pollinators avoid shady areas

Answer 10

True

Question 11

Poor competitor for pollination…

Answer 11

Blooms very early

Question 12

Seasonally variable biotic factors…

Answer 12

Presence or activity of mutualists, competitors, or predators; food availability, etc

Question 13

Phenology and fitness…

Answer 13

The importance of getting it right

Question 14

Why is it important to get the timing right?

Answer 14

-Leaf out and leaf senescence
-Mating/flowering
-Gestation/fruit ripening
-Migration/hibernation
-Chemistry

Question 15

Seasonal availability of seed dispersers…

Answer 15

Fruiting phenology

Question 15

Prunus Caroliniana (laurel cherry)

Answer 15

-Evergreen cherry
-Sub-canopy tree
-Bee pollinated and bird dispersed

Question 16

Seasonal activity patterns of pollinators…

Answer 16

Flower phenology

Question 17

___________ traits are strategies, shaped by natural selection, that manage life event timing in variable environments

Answer 17

Phenological

Question 18

Cumulative degree days…

Answer 18

A metric used to estimate time spent over/under a thermal threshold

Question 19

_____________ of light/dark cycles also mediates physiological processes, helping set internal “clocks”

Answer 19

Relative

Question 20

T/F) Species often use multiple cues

Answer 20

True

Question 21

Expression of phenological traits can be mediated by _______________

Answer 21

Environmental variation

Question 22

T/F) Interactions between cues can’t mediate phenological response

Answer 22

False

Question 23

Flowering time…

Answer 23

Responds to photoperiod, temperature, snowmelt, soil moisture, etc.

Question 24

In many places “spring is coming earlier” (summer is too) as a result of climate change…

Answer 24

-Warmer temperatures earlier in the year
-Earlier snowmelt
-Dryer soil in late spring/early summer

Question 25

What does an earlier spring mean for plants?

Answer 25

-More vulnerability to frost/drought
-Potential for fewer visits from pollinators, lower reproductive success
-Changes to competitive dynamics

Question 26

Phenological mismatch…

Answer 26

-Results when interacting species change their phenological timing at different rates.
-May have major impacts on the frequency and outcomes of species interactions.
-May influences survival and reproductive success
-Potential for cascading effects through food chains

Question 27

FIVE MAIN POINTS

Answer 27

1) Seasonal variation in environmental conditions necessitates adaptation tuning of life event timing
2) Phenological traits are strategies, shaped by natural selection, to manage life event timing in variable conditions
3) Many processes and life history events show some phenological component
4) Both abiotic and biotic traits may influence phenology and act as phenological cues
5) Many phenological traits are plastic in response to environmental variation (i.e, expression changes with the environment)